Companies that engage in commercial transactions often communicate to each other using various forms to negotiate terms of their transactions. For example, purchasers who wish to purchase an item may send a purchase order to a supplier. The purchase order may set forth information concerning the desired purchase such as the number of items that are requested, the price, and a requested delivery date. The supplier may respond with a confirmation or with an alternate proposal setting forth items that can be delivered, a price and dates that the supplier is able to deliver these items.
Suppliers who compete for business may be willing to offer incentives for potential purchasers to purchase goods from them. For example, suppliers may offer discounts for bulk-rate purchases or for advanced notice. Suppliers may negotiate terms of purchases with prospective purchasers and set forth these terms in contracts that will govern future purchases from the suppliers. As part of these contracts, suppliers may offer discounted rates if certain conditions are met.
Often purchasers may choose among suppliers because multiple suppliers offer the same items. Purchasers may have significant requirements and may need to submit many purchase orders to obtain items needed for their businesses. Understanding the incentives that suppliers offer to encourage purchases may be a cumbersome task, especially when a company has many purchasing needs. For example, it may be difficult to recall how much of a specific item must be purchased to obtain a discount. Additionally, a business may have multiple departments that desire the same items. Collecting multiple purchasing requests within a company to determine the overall needs of the company may be a burdensome manual task. A purchaser may also be interested in impressions others have had of a supplier's past performance prior to placing an order. Benefits would be obtained from an automated system that would allow a purchaser to combine overall purchasing requirements of a company and take advantage of discounts that the supplier offers, while also considering other aspects of the purchasing decision, such as the past performance of the supplier.